Paperclay and other abominations

To those familiar with the characteristics and limitations of regulsr clay, paperclay seems like a mythical beast. It’s fabled advantages over regular clay include;
Increased strength in greenware
Dramatically decreased shrinkage
Decreased fired weight
Decreased cost if your make it yourself since you extend your clay with free paper
And most incredible, the ability to mix wet, dry, and fired clay all together

My “local” (130 miles away) clay shop doesn’t sell any paper clay and I’m too cheap to pay shipping so I decided to try my hand at making some. I looked at a few methods and decided on the one listed at http://www.ceramicstoday.com/howto/htpaperclay.com It called for 200 grams of newspaper per kilo (2 lbs) of clay. I weight out the paper in folded sheets (should have counted how many sheets make 200 gm) then fed it through a shredder.

I put the shreds into a stockpot and boiled it for about half an hour. I read in another recipe to add a couple drops of dish soap to the pot but I hear some people say that clay and soap don’t mix so you might not want to do that. I can say that the paper strips really started to break down after the addition of the soap. I boiled and stired the paper until it turned into a grey gruel and set it off to cool.

In the meantime I measured out 2 lbs of clay, broke it up into little pieces, and put it in a bucket with just enough water to cover.

After the paper pulp and the clay slip had set overnight, I mixed the clay into the water well to make a slip and poured the paper pulp into a collander to drain. Here’s where the story unravels… I had chosen this recipe because it had clearcut weights: 200 gms of paper per kilo of clay. But 200 grams of newspaper makes a whole buttload of paper pulp! Much more volume than the original 2 lbs of clay. That just didn’t seem right.

So I just grabbed up a big handful of pulp, dumped it into my clap slip and mixed it well using my hands and a wire whisk. So much for science and ratios!

Now to dry off the excess water, wedge it, and see what I've got.

Anyone out there have any experience making or using paperclay?

I'm gonna sit right here, I'm gonna watch the sun
Disappear into the ocean, it's been years since I smelled this salty sea.

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2009-05-20 19:08 ]

[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2010-07-29 12:10 ]

wow..
it's like a clay crackhouse you got goin on! :lol:
Mike-you are the brave explorer!
charting into unknown realms and tackling it!
Kudos!

It seems that suddenly everyone is talking about paperclay, I spotted Vantiki discussing using paperclay on his art thread and the tutor at the ceramics class I've just started swears by paperclay.

LLT, more like a clay meth-lab. It's a good thing my wife is out of town today- I don't have a plaster bat to dry this slop, so I dumped it out on the kitchen counter and put a fan on it. I go by every so often and stir it :lol:

I heard about paperclay several months ago from VanTiki but apparently it has been around for decades. Carol Farrow from England was using it in the '70s but it has arguably been around since the ancient Egyptians added straw to their clay.

To add to it's list of incredible characteristics - it doesn't warp like regular clay, and it can be glaze fired without a bisque firing.

Your Insane! I love that about you.

You gotta get the book Paper Clay by Rosette Gault. There are entire chapters on making all different kinds of Paper clay - even paper clay casting slip! You are the man for mixing your own! I am waaaaaay too chicken :)

Henrik

I guess I'll have to break down and make a plater bat. My paper clay slurry has been sitting in an open bucket for 4 days and still hasn't dried to clay consistency yet. I'M NOT A PATIENT MAN DAMMIT!!!

So after 12 days of sitting in an open bucket, my paperclay slurry has finally dried enough to start resembling clay. Still too wet to work with but it's getting there :) The canvas is helping wick out the extra moisture, should be ready to play with in a day or so. Then I found out if it works or if I have wasted 2 weeks of my life :lol:

I don't really understand how this paperclay is supposed to work but I'm not one to let lack of knowledge get in my way :lol:

I wanted to build this Hawaiian warclub with shark teeth. I planned to make the club and push the teeth in from the inside. Since the paperclay dries stronger I figured I would be less likely to break teeth made of paperclay rather than regular clay. I know you can use "wet on dry" with paperclay but only the teeth (not the club) are paperclay so I don't know how that will work out. I did a test tile with a tooth sticking through it and it seemed to work OK. The tooth was a little loose in the tile but when I glazed both sides that fixed it. We'll see what happens when I fire it. (The woodgrained clay is a brown and a tan clay marbled together)

MDM,
glazing paper clay? this is new to me. I have worked with paperclay, made my own a couple years back, and have the premade powder to mix with water called Celluclay but was completely unaware it had a fireable ceramics application. I would have assumed even at decal firing temps the paper clay would burn to nothing. So i am really intrigued, and a paper clay slip, really want to try that for non fire applications, very cool. looking forward to hearing more about your trials with it and to searching out the reference material about its applications.
edit: i just reread the top of the thread, i get it now, the paper clay acts as a filler, so it does burn out, leaving a lighter weight bisque, similar to using cotton and doilies in slip and firing them out to leave the shape, cool, will have to try it out

[ Edited by: oceaotica 2009-02-23 08:20 ]

MDM-CHARTER OF UNKNOWN TERRITORY!
we salute you!

hope the paperclay glazin will work
great mug/weapon!

Here's an example of what can be done with paper-clay, the Plumeria Hibiscus and Orchids in this arrangement were made by (Not my site) http://www.islandflowerstudio.com. The Hibiscus, Plumeria and yellow, orange and pink Orchids were made by her. She uses pastels to make her paint...

Paul

[ Edited by: pwest71 2009-02-24 06:40 ]

There are two different products called paperclay, it confused me too. These flowers are made of an air-dry paper mâché type product made of mostly cellulose fibers with a glue for a binder. The ceramic paperclay is at least half ceramic clay with about 20-50% cellulose fiber added in and is kiln fired.

PAPERCLAY VICTORY!!!

The warclub fired fine, no problem with the dry clay stuck into the wet clay but that's not the exciting part; I managed to break off one of the shark teeth after everything was all bone dry leaving only a stump. I molded a new tooth on top of the dry stump and it looks like it worked! There's no way you can do that with regular clay!

Today I bought 25 lbs of WC953, Max's Paperclay
"Fires gray-stony-white in reduction at cone 10, off white at cone 5 oxidation, and bright white at cone 05 (raku). It is a medium textured, low shrinkage body designed for large-scale hand-built sculpture and tile work where thick cross sections (up to 1 inch) are anticipated. Contains fine and medium mesh grog."

I'll let you know how it works out :)

let's see the club,bub...

Here ya go LLT

I think it turned out a bit clunky and Neanderthal instead of gracefully Polynesian, looked like something GROG should carry :lol:

Very nice Mike. This is one of my favorites of yours.

That is SUPERCOOL. I love the faux wood finish. Just awesome.

How much did the 25 lbs of paperclay cost?

Mr 3P! The faux wood is marbled brown and white clay, the teeth are homemade paperclay. I think I paid about $15 for 25 lbs of the commercial stuff that I picked up this week, not too bad. Got a small project in mind for the paperclay, hope to try it out this weekend.

Cool club ya got there Mike!
Can you tell the difference between the
clay club and the paper clay teeth?

Jason, after the clay was glazed, there's no visible difference. I used the paperclay because it stronger when dried and unfired. I made the teeth and let them dry, then pushed them through the wet clay mug from the inside. Dried regular clay would be too brittle for that.

I wanted to put paperclay "through the gauntlet" so to speak, I am made a ceramic gauntlet sword holder (sorry, it's not even remotely tiki). I think I have violated all of the potter's rules and maybe even some of the Geneva Conventions. It varies in thickness with about 1 inch being the thickest. Here are the laws I flaunted:

I added wet clay to dry clay

I force dried it in 48 hours (1 inch thick, from bag to kiln in 2 days!)

I transported it, unprotected, when bone dry

I glazed it unfired, combining the bisque and glaze firings (not the hand, another piece of paperclay) Glaze was glossy with no pits, craters, etc.

The only torture I didn’t try was putting partially dried clay in the kiln, maybe I’ll try that next.

This is Laguna WC953 "Max's Paperclay". It is a high fire clay but they say it can be low fired, I chose it over the other paperclays they had because it fires white. I wish I had the background and education to describe it's characteristics but I don't. So instead I'll compare and contrast it to the EM347 I usually use. The EM347 contains quite a bit of talc and feels silky, the paperclay has fine and coarse grog along with the paper fibers, it feels much grittier. I love the way the EM347 works when it's leatherhard, it carves beautifully into tiny chips and allows you to carve fine details. The paperclay's fibers grab and clog your tools, pulling away little bits of clay instead of carving cleanly. It also seems that the paperclay dries up faster while you're trying to work with it. In addition to paperclay's "rule breaking" abilities, it allegedly fires lighter. But I made 2 pedants as identical as I could, the paperclay ended up weighing about 3% more than the EM347.

So I guess, just like any project, you pick the material that best suits the job. If you want fine detail, paper clay is out. If you need a quick project, need a wet on dry technique, or need unfired strength then paperclay is great.

Wow, pretty cool info. I think I'm beginning
to understand paperclay a little. Just seemed like
an oxymoron before. Push that envelope Mike!
Cool sword holder!

Dang ! That club did turn out killer!
the grains give it a weird eerie otherworldly cartoony feel..
SUCCESS!
and that awesome "iron" glove holder!
FUDGEEEEEEEE!
grab some buttah cause you are on a roll!

Anyone have experience with clay and "combustables" other than paper? I want some light and porous clay for a project so it's back to the MadDog Mike Tiki Laboratory. I started with Cone 04 casting slip and mixed a few batches using ground corn cobs (small animal bedding), ground spagetti, crushed crackers, & cereal flakes. Most of them are mixed 50/50 by volume. I wanted to try sawdust but haven't found any I like yet.

Any other suggestions? Needs to be something granular that will burn out in the kiln. Something cheap and readily available. Vermiculite? Pearlite? Couscous? Rice? Dry Tapioca?

Those are some nasty-looking burgers you got there Mike! LOL

On 2010-07-29 12:31, beadtiki wrote:
Those are some nasty-looking burgers you got there Mike! LOL

You shoulda seen them burgers smoke when I put them in the kiln :lol:

Well the results are in;
50% corn cob and 50% ground spaghetti both fell apart in the kiln
30% corn cob and 50% Honey Bunches of Oars were both too weak
50% crushed saltine crackers showed some promise - light, strong, and interesting texture.

Still want to try some sawdust and couscous for a little finer texture :D

OMG! I've been eating the wrong cerial - Honey Bunches of OARS!?

mmmmmmmmmm
gray hamburgers!
:)

On 2010-08-03 10:32, beadtiki wrote:
OMG! I've been eating the wrong cerial - Honey Bunches of OARS!?

It has lots of (wood) fiber :lol: :lol: :lol:

You gotta love paperclay for a quick project. Faux coral 1.5 x 1 inch at thickest part.

00:00 Sculpted coral and placed in heated forced air cabinette
10:00 Placed in kiln on low
20:00 Kiln turned to high
23:30 Kiln auto-off
34:00 Removed from kiln

34 hours start to finish. Regular clay would have been at least a week :D

On 2009-05-12 18:45, MadDogMike wrote:
Today I bought 25 lbs of WC953, Max's Paperclay
"Fires gray-stony-white in reduction at cone 10, off white at cone 5 oxidation, and bright white at cone 05 (raku). It is a medium textured, low shrinkage body designed for large-scale hand-built sculpture and tile work where thick cross sections (up to 1 inch) are anticipated. Contains fine and medium mesh grog."

I'll let you know how it works out :)

So that was 3 years ago. I used a little of the clay on various projects and put the rest of it in a bucket for safekeeping. I pulled it out today and it seems to have "aged" like a fine Gorgonzola cheese

I hope there is still some paper fiber left in it, that it hasn't all rotted out :lol:

You are not just a MadDog you are a MadScientist Mike. Wendy

mmm, mildew. Hey, that claymore holder is cool, the war club as well.

Now my paperclay has a pink coloring in places, I suspect a bacteria called Serratia marcescens. Obviously the kiln will kill any bacteria when I fire the clay but I will need to be careful about cleaning the counters and my tools :lol:

I bought some paper clay when we were at Oasis. I just checked and there's no bacteria or mildew yet. I feel really lucky to have it stay nice in its appearance.
Why do I have it. What shall I use it for Mike??? Wendy

It took mine a couple of years to mold :D I use it for thick pieces without too much detail that I want to dry quickly. This one will be a Christmas Gingerbread windchime and/or mobile. Christmas is coming and I need to get this dry fast, so I used the paperclay. But it doesn't carve well at leatherhard because of the fibers. This project doesn't require any carved detail so it works well.

Paper clay work good for caveman art that not have much detail and for repairing bisque.

Damned TC! Always doubles GROG' post.

[ Edited by: grog 2012-12-19 15:24 ]

Actually, nothing better then moldy clay. You should be able to build a fortress with moldy paper clay. I've read that the chinese used to bury their porcelain for over 100 years to get it good and ripe before working with it.

I've always just used paper clay to fix small cracks. The texture doesn't suit the stuff I like to make, but, I just helped someone work on a paper clay sculpture the other day. Crazy, the piece was still slightly flexible after bisque. It was a large spiral shape and we had to lay it on it's side to keep it from bending while she glazed it. Next time we might just bisque it at a higher temperature.

Another small project using the advantages of paperclay. Packed some B-Mix paperclay into a plastic croc head mold after I lined it with Saran Wrap to serve as a mold release. Thickness varies from about an inch or more in some areas of the skull to the points of the teeth. Since the paper fibers help wick the moisture to the outside, you don't have to worry about slow drying to prevent cracks. I threw it outside in the 105 degree heat unprotected and in 2 days it was ready to fire :D

Wow MDM I want to be your grandkid and have you make more things for me! Very cool. That pirate ship has it all. Wendy

[ Edited by: danlovestikis 2013-07-23 09:23 ]

Another success for paperclay, this time a B-Mix Paperclay. Was making a large iguana head approx 4 inches in diameter and 7 inches long. Needed to have a wooden core in it so it could be attached to a wall. I made the desired size and shape core in both wood and in Styrofoam. I made the iguana around the foam core with sides about 1.5 inches thick.

I let the iguana set out with no wrapping for a couple of days until the clay hardened, I used a hook to break up the foam and pull it out of the cavity. The reason for the foam core instead of the wooden core was to eliminate the possibility of cracking if the paperclay shrunk against the core. I put it in a heated air cabinet and force dried it over 2 days. A piece with regular ceramic clay that thick would have taken WEEKS to dry without cracking. After bisque firing, the paperclay had shrunk slightly. I sanded my wooden core down so that it would slide into the cavity.

The wood core will screw to the wall, the iguana slides onto it and is held in place by a wooden dowel that goes crosswise through the core and the iguana (seen just in front of the large eardrum)

Nice trophy head

Iguana turned out sweet :D

Mike this came out great.

Another paperclay success. I wanted a hollow fish so I made a fish-shaped form out of 1 inch Styrofoam. Rolled out some paperclay about 3/8 inch thick and covered the foam, I punched a small vent hole through the clay into the foam underneath between the fins. I just left it out to dry, no wrapping. Because paperclay does not shrink near as much as regular clay when it dries, it did not crack. My kiln is outside and I left after I turned it on, but I expect it smoked and stunk like crazy when that Styrofoam burned out :lol: